Many variations of the dice game known as craps have been developed, each attempting to add some novel feature designed to interest the gambling public. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2,003/0,032,471, for Darder is directed to an apparatus for simulating games of chance with cards. In simulating a craps game, cards are used in place of dice. The cards can be special, in that all possible variations of dice outcomes are represented. Wild cards, such as jokers, can also be included. Multiple sets of cards along with multiple shufflers can also be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,161 issued to Skratulia, discloses a method of playing an improved version of the game of pai gow poker. Here a set of three special dice are provided which include representation of the numbers 0, 1, 2 and 4 such that when rolled, the total numeric value of the three dice would be one of the numbers 1 through 8, with each number being equally probable. Further, a revised 56-card playing deck is provided, including a 52-card standard deck plus four jokers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,838, issued to Aharonian discloses a family financial board game. Here the game apparatus includes a pair of special dice where one die has an X on three of its faces and is blank on the other three faces, and the other die has an X on two of its faces, a Y on another two of its faces, and the remaining two faces are blank. Each would yield a combination of an X and a Y, an X and an X, and the casting of a blank provides a third outcome.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,395 issued to Astaneha is directed to a combination dice, card and roulette gambling game. In the gambling game that includes a throw of special dice, each die has a plurality of faces with a color and number on it. A plurality of cards is provided, each card having a number and a color on it. A rotatable wheel is provided that has indications for segmented areas thereon to allow a variety of creative gambling games to be played.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,337 issued to Somma et al. is directed to a betting game apparatus and method of play. The casino card game utilizes a single 41-card deck of playing cards consisting of a standard four suit playing card deck from which all face cards have been removed and a single joker card has been added.
While other variations exist, the above-described variations of card and dice games are typical of those encountered in the prior art. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a variation of a traditional dice crap game by utilizing special card decks designed to provide the numerical combinations available in a standard pair of dice. It is a further objective to provide such combinations in multiple decks of cards. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a means to randomly select the deck of cards from which a card will be drawn to indicate a “point” for a craps game. It is yet a further objective to provide for the instantaneous reshuffling of a card deck after a card has been drawn and returned to the deck from which it was drawn to maintain the odds of drawing any particular point. It is also an objective to provide a means for playing a craps game utilizing a single special card deck and counting down through that deck to a card to be used as a point for the game based upon a number generated by a pair of dice or other random integer generator. Finally, it is an objective to provide a craps-type game in which the odds of drawing any particular point may change with the removal of cards from the decks.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.